A bit more on Portugal

The first two photos were made in Rossi square in central Lisboa looking north and south, respectively, from the central area of the square. The point of interest in these is the pattern of the paving stones in this very large praça or square which creates a perception of undulation in what is a completely flat surface. This kind of decorative pattern in walking areas is common in most towns we visited. For example, the third photo is a pedestrian only street in Loule which passes by a collection of shops.

The patterns are created using small rocks, about 2 to 2.5 inch (larger in areas that allow cars to drive or park) rough cut cubes, which are still put in place by hand. The rocks are placed on a base of sand like material (it may be limestone screenings or some equivalent) and then workmen sit in a squatting position for hours positioning and "tapping" these rocks into place with a small hammer. Think of the person hours of labour to install the pattern in Rossi square! For more about this process see posting from 2008

I mentioned in an earlier post that Lisboa is very hilly and this plus lots of very narrow streets makes for challenging traffic movement, including public transit, much of which is electrically driven trams. These are not cable cars though there is at least one cable driven "funicular" railway in the central area of Lisboa.

The fourth photo is the old classic tram 28, one of several that wind their way up to the Castle, down steep inclines and through very narrow streets. In some places the street is so narrow that there is one way traffic only so only one set of rails - in these areas there are traffic lights specifically for the trams to allow the northbound tram to use the one way set of tracks while the southbound waits its turn. The fifth photo is one of these old style trams coming down from the castle area - not sure if you can appreciate it, but this is quite a steep incline.

Lisboa has more modern trams as well but continues to run the old classic street cars to preserve some of the historical aura.